Like Pulling Teeth
by AlwaysWrite
Summary: An iOMG aftermath fic. The truth is out, but that doesn't mean she'll stop running from it. Takes place RIGHT where iOMG leaves off. Seddie with angst, fluff, & no Carly-bashing. Written pre-iLost My Mind, no spoilers. Updated: Epilogue, 9/30, COMPLETED.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Hello, fandom! I have missed you. So, this is my first iCarly fanfic, but I have written other stuff before. I saw iOMG and could not believe how perfect it was (for Seddie shippers ;-). Unfortunately, as much as I love the show, I have little faith in Dan Schneider fulfilling all my hopes and dreams with the follow up, so this fic was born. I really wanted to make this as authentic to the show as I could, especially while staying true to the characters. Takes place where iOMG left off, probably at least 3 chapters (still editing that bit). *As I said, this was written BEFORE I saw the promo for the actual follow-up episode, so there are no spoilers and is not canon-compliant.* Although, I may need to write a fic for the new promo as well. Happy reading, and I'd love to hear what you think!

**Dedication:** To my best friend Ellie. Well, you didn't help much with editing this one, love, but you keep me from doing violence to those around me. I owe you fic forever. Thanks for always pulling me out of the darkness. Want to collaborate on a fic sometime? 

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><p><em>"Sorry."<em>

_"It's cool."_

She felt like this silence had stretched on for ages, him staring at her.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Sam bit out.

Freddie twitched but his eyes remained locked on her. "What exactly do you expect me to say?" he asked slowly.

"I don't know, just anything!" Her skin felt too tight, like she'd burst any second.

"Sam, you just—I mean, I don't even…" Freddie stumbled as all his thoughts fought to tumble out as one sentence. He let the sentiment trail into nothing as he continued staring.

Sam felt tension rise from her stomach into her throat as the silence engulfed them again. Freddie just stood there, blankly but for his stare. It was unbearable as the seconds ticked by, and more and more Sam felt the need to hit something.

It was the sudden horrifying, pricking heat behind her eyes that made her snap. "Forget this," she muttered before Sam shoved past Freddie and towards the door.

That seemed to startle Freddie out of his stupor. "Wait, what? Sam, just wai—," but the door was already closed. 

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><p>Sam's flight was delayed only for an instant as she burst into the school and locked eyes with Carly. Carly's face was the picture of shock and betrayal, and Sam couldn't handle seeing the other mess she'd made in her life. Sam gave a barely audible, "I—," before giving up and fleeing down the hallway.<p>

Carly felt frozen as she stared at the door to where Sam had disappeared. Completely at a loss, she made as though to follow her, but instead chose to focus on her only available outlet. She flung open the door to the courtyard and stormed outside. Freddie was sitting where Sam had sat, fidgeting and drumming his fingers.

"Where is she going?" Carly asked frantically.

"How am _I_ supposed to know?" Freddie demanded, as if to himself. "It's not like Sam _tells_ me anything, it's not like _anyone_ tells me anything. Who can ever tell what's going on in her head when she's breaking your arm or stealing your shoes one minute and then she just goes and—without—and—"

"Freddie!"

His head snapped toward her. Carly seemed calmer with sympathy in the face of his panic.

"Are you okay?"

Freddie gulped and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and let it out slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just…" Freddie flung out his hands helplessly.

"Yeah. I know."

"I take it you saw?"

"Yup."

They struggled to put words to their chaotic thoughts. Carly was quickly regaining her frantic energy while Freddie seemed to sink into a tranquil state. "Apparently," Freddie said, too calm, "Sam is _not_ in love with Brad."

Carly laughed once with a hint of hysteria. "No. No, I guess not."

"I take it you didn't know anything about…all this?"

"Of course not!" she snapped, panicking. "I'm only her best friend, why should _I_ know?"

"Okay, sorry!" he said defensively. "I just don't know what to do, what's going on, any of it."

Carly tapped her foot furiously for a few moments longer before saying "Well, I'm going to find Sam. God only knows where she is, but nothing about _this_," she gestured to the air around them, "can be fixed without her and…we just need her here!" And she stomped off in a cloud of righteous fury. She barely registered Freddie's quiet " 'kay," as he stayed still.

He didn't know how long he continued to sit there, but Carly's words finally seemed to penetrate the fog in his head. Freddie knew Carly was right. Whatever else, one of them needed to find Sam. She didn't do well on her own. He stood up, full of purpose. He felt instinctively that he could find Sam first, as if he could sense the trail of the shared confusion she had left in her wake. Freddie yanked open the door and strode back into the building and down the hallway. 

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><p>Ten minutes later he wasn't so sure, and was feeling absolutely ridiculous, wandering in loops through the mostly deserted hallways. "How on earth would I <em>sense<em> what direction she was going?" he mumbled disgustedly. "She'd laugh her face off at my pathetic 'instincts'—."

He was cut off when he was hit—hard—by another person running through the next intersection of hallways. Freddie hit the ground while the other person merely stumbled into a wall to quickly right themselves. "Watch it—," Freddie saw a flash of blonde curls and tried to reach out. "Sam?"

Her head jerked up, recognizing his voice. Her eyes were fearful, but she set her lips in a hard line. "Sorry," she mumbled before trying to back away.

"Hold it!" he shouted, awkwardly getting to his feet in his haste. "What the heck was _that_?"

She wasn't looking at him. "Geez, I didn't see you, alright? I said I was sorry." She attempted to dart around him, but he stepped in her path, frustrated.

"You know what I'm talking about!" He searched her face with confusion. "What is this, some kind of game to you?" She remained silent, staring at the floor. Freddie huffed a breath of disbelief. "You are so…_insane_," he exclaimed, and she flinched. "Seriously, the most messed up, confusing girl I've ever met!"

"Okay, you're right," she gritted out. "So how about you just _get out of my way_?"

Freddie continued as though he hadn't heard her. "After our entire friendship, after _everything_, how do you end up kissing_ me_ in the courtyard?"

"It's not like I was _planning_ on it!" Sam snapped.

"How was that even an option at all?" he demanded.

"Because I was stupid enough to think you _got_ me!" she shouted, finally looking at him. It only lasted a second or two before she looked away again. Sam seemed unable to leave, much as she wanted to. Freddie looked down and wondered when he had grabbed her wrist.

He released it, uncomfortable. "But—," he stumbled. The vehemence in her last statement had filled him, unaccountably, with guilt. As thought part of him agreed, maybe he should have gotten her, should have understood, "How—how can I get you when you're hating me and tormenting me one minute and kissing me the next? Why would you do that?" He struggled to regain his furious indignation of only seconds ago. His thoughts were quickly receding into the fog that had engulfed him after Sam had left the courtyard.

"Because I'm not like Carly or Valerie or those other girls," Sam answered tightly. "I don't want to be even if I could. If I kept picking on you, you…wouldn't think of me the same way as you did with them. You couldn't ignore me that way."

Freddie felt frozen, though his mind balked at the idea of being able to ignore _Sam_. "But, if you don't want me to ignore you, you can't just, you know, _kiss_ someone and then walk away!"

Sam met his eyes. "Watch me," she said. And she shoved him, not as hard as usual, but combined with his shock it was enough to send him back to the ground. He recovered from the surprise enough to raise himself onto his elbows, but all he saw was a shadow accompanied by the sounds of Sam's sneakers running down the deserted hallway.

Freddie groaned and laid his head back against the linoleum. The cool surface felt good against his skull, and that was a small comfort as he tried to untangle the mess his life had become.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** And I'm back! Thanks SO much to everyone who read my first chapter! It makes my day, and I get up from my laptop and skip around giddily. I'd like to give a special thanks to Caralynne, miscellaneous adventures, Aleia McKingston, and .Silence., my first four reviewers! (Your comments were so kind (I've never understood people who ship Seddie, but then completely change their personalities by writing them out of character! Isn't that why we love them in the first place? I hope you continue to enjoy my fic, please let me know if characterization slips). Here is the next installment! I figured I'd put this up today, because tomorrow I work the closing shift and won't be able to update. Hope you all have fun reading it!

**Disclaimer:** I forgot this last time! I don't own iCarly, I did not create it, nor do I make any money off it or this story. If I wrote for the show, this would be an episode and my bank account wouldn't look so sad. 

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><p>By the time Carly found her, she was in a dark, empty classroom. Sam was sitting on a table near the window, knees pulled up to her chest.<p>

"There you are!" Carly said agitatedly. "I've been searching the whole school for you!"

"Well, that was stupid," Sam said without looking up. "I'm right here."

"Ha, ha." Carly started to walk over to her, then stopped. "Sam, are you_ crying_?"

"_No_," she said, quickly pushing herself off the table to walk further away, though she surreptitiously wiped her eyes.

"Then what are you doing by yourself in the dark?" Carly asked, feeling somewhat more sympathetic.

"Just thinking about how I'm the only person who could mess up a great thing this badly." It was as if Sam was trying to be funny, but the sincerity in her voice belied how upset she was.

"Sam," Carly said, and then trailed off helplessly when she was unable to refute the statement. Sam looked at her knowingly and they stood there at a loss.

They stood there until Carly could not take the silence anymore. "So…" she bit her lip, hesitant. "You…like Freddie now?"

Sam looked away, silent.

Carly turned her face toward the ceiling, gathering her patience. Getting Sam to talk about things she was uncomfortable with was like pulling teeth from a mule. She glanced at Sam. On second thought, pulling teeth would probably be easier.

"Since when?"

Sam shifted. "I don't know. A while, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Mm."

"How long is 'a while'?"

"I don't know, just a while."

"God, Sam!" Carly said exasperatedly and Sam started. She took a breath. "I'm sorry for yelling, it's just, I don't get what's going on with you."

"Yeah, well, join the club." Sam still wasn't making eye contact, but she inched closer to Carly which was something of a concession.

"Alright, so," Carly sighed. "I mean, is this because you guys kissed a while back? Is that where this is coming from?"

"Carly, when I said 'I don't know', it's because I really don't know. It all kind of blurs together, you know? I mean, one minute I would have sold him to Somalian pirates for a piece of jerky, and the next I'm making excuses to hang out with him and the stupid PearPad is saying I'm in love." Sam kicked a nearby desk and it spun into the wall.

"Yeah, I know. I was there." Carly was heartened to see Sam give a tiny smile. "But come on, Sam. Nobody just—_this_ overnight."

Sam groaned. "I know, it's just…" she turned away from Carly, unable to continue with her watching. "It probably started back then, but I didn't know it at the time. Before we…whatever, I was still messing with him like always. But you were all 'you really hurt Freddie'," Sam mimicked.

"I don't sound like that," Carly murmured resentfully.

"But I saw you were right and, I realized I hadn't wanted to torture the guy, that I didn't _want_ to. Like, I hadn't noticed that he was kind of okay, when he wasn't being a nub, you know?"

"Right." Carly remembered, and realized that though she herself hadn't noticed, Sam had started considering Freddie like more of a person after that day. "So, you started to care about his feelings?" Sam shot her a glare. "A little," Carly amended hastily.

Sam snorted. "Whatever." Her voice became reluctant again. "Then, with the…kiss, you know, it just…wasn't so awful. Like, Freddie wasn't carrying some gross dweeb germs. If it was anyone _but_ Freddie, I might have said it was good."

She stopped speaking, so Carly prodded, "But that wasn't when you started liking him?"

"No! Geez, aren't you listening?"

"Sorry," Carly said, overly-patient. "Go on."

Sam shifted uncomfortably. "All of a sudden, he wasn't _bugging_ me so much when he'd show up. He'd be funny, sometimes. And we started hanging out more. Not like _hanging_," she clarified defensively. "But we'd be waiting for you, before or after class, at the Smoothie Hut, so we'd talk a little. Sometimes he offered to help me with homework. I don't do homework, which I explained to him, but it was kind of like we weren't on different teams anymore. Like we were on the same page."

Her face got softer as she sunk further into memory. "And this one day, I was arguing with Mr. Howard because I hadn't done the assignment, and just as I was about to bite him, Freddie pulled me off and covered for me. Said he had done the reading with me. Later, when I was still cheesed off at Howard, Freddie let me rant, kept reading and handing me slices of ham until I calmed down. I remember thinking how it was kind of cool that he just let me go, and didn't make a big deal about it, like he understood, and I remember hoping all of a sudden that he'd put down his book and _look_ at me.

"I know," she grumbled, Carly's raised eyebrow pulling her out of her reverie. "I said I didn't know when this started. But the thing is, when I figured out what I was…_feeling_," she shuddered, "I realized I had felt that way for a while. I just hadn't noticed."

Carly nodded, trying to hold on to her even tone. "Okay, but, that day. When was that?"

Sam sighed and leaned her head against the wall. "A couple of months ago. Give or take."

Carly tried to sound neutral. "Why didn't you tell me _then_?"

"I just kept hoping if I ignored it, it would go away. You know, like a zit."

"But Sam, I'm supposed to be your best friend!" Carly burst out. "I tell you everything and then you keep something like this from me—"

"I'm sorry!" Sam shouted. "I'm sorry, okay? It's not like I _wanted_ to feel this way. I keep acting stupid to spend time with Benson, but hoping he won't notice, and getting mad when he _doesn't_ notice. And it's _weird_, keeping things from you. And if it went away…if nobody knew…"

"What, Sam?"

"_This_," she gestured frantically, "wouldn't happen. I wouldn't screw up my friendships with the only two people I really care about. The only two _good _people who really cared about me, came through for me, heck, can _tolerate_ me."

"Sam, come on, you haven't messed everything up."

"Really?" Sam asked disbelievingly. "You're mad at me, aren't you?"

Carly blinked. "Well, I don't…that's not…," she hedged.

"Do you think Freddie feels any different?" Sam demanded. "Will he be able to stand being around me unless you're there? Maybe not even then. What about iCarly? Should you split your time between us? Can he trust me anymore?" she locked eyes with Carly. "Can you?"

Carly bit down her instinctive defense, how hypocritical it was that Sam thought _Carly's_ trust was the issue. She could see Sam was breaking, just beneath the surface and ready to crack. Carly could tell that if she didn't look after Sam right now, Sam would never recover from the guilt. Then their friendship might really be over.

Carly took a breath. "Okay," she began slowly. "I am mad at you. But I don't want our friendship to be over. Between _any_ of us. We need to fix this, and we can't if you give up on us, Sam. Give Freddie and me a little more credit, would you? We're not just going to stop talking to you."

The tense lines on Sam's face faded, although the guilt remained. "You're my best friend, you know that, right?" She closed her eyes and groaned as she buried her face in her hands. "How am I supposed to do this? I don't _fix_ things."

"Yeah, that's usually our job." Carly felt some guilt of her own as Sam winced. "Sorry. That didn't come out right."

"No, it's okay. You're helping me even though you're mad; you can snap a little."

"If it makes you feel any better, we _will_ be having an argument about this later," Carly said sternly. "Plan on it."

Sam smiled faintly. "Deal."

Carly took a breath. "Maybe you could look at this as a chance to learn how to deal with your problems without running away. You've never really had to do that. I can't solve this for you, and he can't either. This is too important to run away from."

"That's part of the problem," Sam murmured. "It's too important for me to mess it up." She leaned against the wall and slid down to a seated position. Carly hesitated a moment before bending down to join her.

Carly waited, feeling Sam work through her thoughts. Finally, Sam broke the silence.

"What should I do?"

She took a second to gather her thoughts. "Well, before you and I can work things out, and I know you don't want to, but you have to figure out what you want to do about Freddie."

Sam closed her eyes and knocked her head lightly back against the wall. "For instance," Carly said sarcastically, "you might want to work on not flinching every time you hear his name."

"I can't help it. Whenever I hear it, my stomach gets all twitchy, like indigestion."

Carly shot her a look. "Or, you know, like you have a crush on him."

"Do you have to say it like that?"

"Like what?"

"You know…out loud."

"Sam!"

"I know!" Sam gritted her teeth. "I don't even know what I want to do about hi—Freddie."

Carly's voice was gentle but firm. "Sam, come on. Do you really not know?"

Sam sighed in defeat. "I guess, a little."

"You need to talk to Freddie."

"I know." Sam's voice was barely audible.

Carly sat there, knowing Sam needed her support here. She felt Sam take one breath, then another. Finally, she grew still and Carly waited. Sam got to her feet carefully. "I need to think about this," she said, moving toward the door.

"Sam, when you see him don't run away from this."

"I won't." She didn't look back at Carly.

"Sam," Carly stood, "are you going to look for Freddie?" Sam kept walking out the door. "Sam!"

And Carly was alone in the dark. "As usual," Carly said to herself. She gave herself a minute to calm her nerves, then walked out the door without a clue where she was heading.

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><p>Oh, Sam, will you ever learn? This was honestly such a difficult scene to write because Sam does NOT talk about things she's uncomfortable with. I had to experiment with different tactics to see what would make her confess without losing her Sam-ness. I like the combination of ideas that a) she's finally deciding to try and face her problems (like teenagers growing up!) and b) she literally has no other place to run to. Her only chance of saving her friendships is also a chance she could lose them (from her perspective) whereas running is a definitely failure. Please review if you have a chance, next chapter to come soon!<p>

- AlwaysWrite


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** And, I'm back! For anyone who was hoping for a quicker update, if it makes you feel any better, I would have _much_ rather been doing fandom things instead of working. On the bright side: good tips! Here is chapter 3. I took another look at this story, and I think it will be about 6 chapters. THANK YOU to all who reviewed. I love hearing your thoughts!

**Disclaimer: **Nope. Still not mine.

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><p>Carly walked aimlessly through the halls, wavering between looking for Sam again and giving up and returning to work on her project. She off-handedly considered that she should feel guilty, leaving Gibby with the workload. Again. This thought process was interrupted as she turned the corner and had to stumble back to avoid tripping over someone's prone body.<p>

"Sorry," she said distractedly before doing a double-take. "Wait, _Freddie_?"

"Hey, Carly," he said, still staring at the ceiling.

She glanced around. "Um, what are you doing on the floor?"

"Not much. Thinking."

"Oh. Okay."

He patted the tiles next to him. "Care to join me?"

Carly sighed in resignation. "Sure, why not?" she said as she lowered herself to the ground.

They lay there for a moment, listening to the hum of the fluorescent lights. "This is nice," Carly said. "The tiles are cool."

"Yeah. It'd be better with a jacket or something for a pillow." Carly hummed agreement and rested her hands on her stomach.

"I found Sam." Carly said eventually. "For a little anyway."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It's so hard to figure her out sometimes. You try to talk to her and it's like she shoves you away." Freddie snorted at that, but said nothing. Carly waited until she couldn't stand it anymore.

"So, what are you going to do?"

Freddie gave a long, drawn out sigh. "I don't know."

"Sure you're not saying that just so you don't have to tell me?"

Freddie sat up quickly. "What? How can you say that?"

Carly sat up too, allowing her hurt to boil to the surface. "Well, how should I know? First you two kiss, and you make a secret pact not to tell me about it, and now Sam is kissing you and crushing on you for God knows how long, and you must have known _something_! _I_ should have noticed something, there's no way neither of us notices this unless both of you were keeping this from me!"

She hadn't noticed that she'd begun shouting. Freddie held up his hands. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Carly, I'm sorry, okay? Just—take a breath." He put his hand on her shoulder to calm her. "Look, I'm sorry Sam and I didn't tell you about that kiss, okay? I still feel bad about keeping that from you, and I know Sam does too. I remember she was so worried you wouldn't trust her anymore after you found out. She would have done anything you asked until she knew you'd forgiven her."

Carly sniffed. "She told you that?"

Freddie frowned. "Kind of. I remember she'd give in to what you wanted pretty easily those first two weeks after. And she was always asking me if you'd said anything, how you were doing. You got frustrated with her at an iCarly rehearsal, and she looked so worried. Well," he amended, "whatever 'worried' is for Sam. I had to reassure her that you weren't holding a grudge."

"I wasn't. I'm not," Carly said added defensively. "It's just when I saw…it all came back. Being outside the loop from my best friends." With her index finger she traced the swirled pattern on the floor.

"I know," he conceded. "But I promise, Sam never wanted to hurt you like that again. Neither of us did."

"I know." Carly groaned. "I guess this was just one of those things, huh?" She slumped back against the lockers sulkily. "When did life get so complicated?"

"Come on, Carly," Freddie said mockingly. "You watched the same health class video I did."

Carly giggled despite herself. "Right. It's not complicated. This part of our lives is a beautiful, wondrous time of miraculous changes."

Freddie laughed. "Creepy, right? I remember Sam was in that class with me, and she kept making gagging noises at those phrases, and crossing her eyes at Ms. Briggs when she shushed her. Then she asked for my textbooks—"

"Wait, _asked_?" Carly grinned.

"Well, once. Then she just kind of took them. She built a wall of them around her desk and slept through the rest of the video." Freddie frowned slightly. "I don't know when I started paying so much attention to what she does. Or her moods."

"Or when she started coming to you for advice? Or reassurance?" Carly hinted.

Freddie closed his eyes and nodded. "Or just talking to me, like a normal person. Normal for Sam," he amended, growing exasperated. "I don't know. This whole thing is so weird. I had no idea, but, should I have?" he asked as though the spotted ceiling tiles had the answer.

Carly looked at him steadily. "Do you like her?"

The hallway seemed cut off from the rest of the world. Freddie pursed his lips and tried to speak twice before anything came out. "Well, it's…it's _Sam_, you know? It's not like I don't think of her as a girl, it's just—she never even seemed like an _option_. Off limits or something. How am I supposed to know if I want something I didn't even know I could choose?"

"Well, you have to be sure," Carly said vehemently. "We'll never fix this if you tell her one thing and then change your mind."

"Why are you lecturing _me_?" Freddie complained. "I didn't start this."

"No, but you're more likely to listen," Carly said seriously. "And, like it or not, the next move is all on you."

Freddie closed his eyes again. "You're right. Of course you're right. But I don't even know where to start."

"Well…," Carly began. "You know you like her as a friend." Freddie nodded. "Do you think she's pretty?"

He seemed uncomfortable with the question, but he couldn't evade Carly's probing eyes. "I mean, sort of. Yeah, I guess." Carly grinned and he groaned. "Yes, okay? Sam's pretty. Really pretty when she's not injuring me."

"Freddie, it isn't weird to think she's cute," Carly soothed. "She is." Freddie nodded half-heartedly. "Is she prettier than me?" Carly asked with a straight face.

Freddie looked at her, terrified, before she lost her composure and laughed. "Just kidding," she said through her giggles. He groaned, knocking his head back against a locker and the noise echoed down the hall. He winced and raised a hand to massage his skull.

"But seriously," Carly said, putting a hand on his knee in apology. "Since you figured that out, now you figure out if you want Sam as more than a friend."

She let that sink in as they sat there. They heard a locker slam in the distance and waited for the accompanying voices to fade. Freddie was silent for a minute more before he spoke. "I don't know," he said slowly. "It's different now. When I say her name. Or hear it. Before, if I said it, I had such a clear picture of her, her place in my life, and vice-versa. Now…it's all different. All of a sudden, I can't remember what it felt like, thinking about Sam the way I used to. I don't know if I'll ever be able to think of her that way again."

Carly was staring at him as he stared into space. "If you can't go back, forward is your only option," she said neutrally. "I guess you have to decide what that means."

Seconds ticked by as Freddie considered how to move forward in this situation. How could he make such a huge decision when he still felt like he only had a few pieces of the puzzle? The only person who could give him the full picture was…he set his jaw. Using the locker to push himself off the floor, he stood resolutely. "I have to talk to Sam."

Carly followed suit, stretching. "Good idea. Don't worry; I'm sure she'll come back in a bit. She knows she needs to talk to you."

"Did you see where she was going?"

"No," Carly said, brushing off her jeans. "She said she needed to think. You should let her work through this and she'll come back to find you." She motioned down the hall toward the lambent light where their classmates were still hard at work.

Freddie made as if to follow her, then stilled. "No," he said, and Carly turned back toward him. He had a small smile on his face, like he had just made an amazing discovery. "That's not what she wants. She wants me to find her. She wants me to look for her," he said, absolutely sure. "I'll catch you later," he remarked distractedly as he spun and walked quickly back toward the darker part of the school.

"Freddie, what are you going to do?" Carly called after him.

"Not sure!" he called back. Suddenly he stopped, turned, and jogged back to Carly.

"I'm not saying that to keep you in the dark," he explained hurriedly. "I'd tell you, but I'm really kind of winging it, and besides—"

"It's fine," Carly interrupted with a half-smile. "Sam should probably know before I do. Just…let me know sometime, okay?"

"Promise," he said seriously before resuming his stride down the hall.

Carly stood and listened to his footsteps fade away. She stood there alone for a few minutes before heaving a resigned sigh. "Guess I'll check on Gibby." Then the hallway was empty.

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><p>You know, this chapter wasn't super fluffy or super dramatic, but for some reason, I really loved writing it. Next chapter SHOULD be up either late tomorrow or Tuesday. If I don't see you, Happy Independence Day to all my USA readers! To everyone else, Happy 4th!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I AM SO SO SO SORRY** for this hideously long delay! Really, I don't even know. I mean, I knew this was the longest chapter, and it was…fine. Cute even. But it didn't entirely say what I wanted, and it didn't sound right, didn't sound right, didn'tsoundright didn'tsoundright didn'tsoundright. So I just kept trying to fix it, and I got overwhelmed, and THEN real life forced me into a mental breakdown in which I could not handle the thought of ruthlessly/fruitlessly editing for a self-imposed deadline so…I just stopped. But, this fic got back on my to-do list, and here is an update! I swear, this fic is all written, so don't fear that it will be abandoned. Plus, as I said, this is the longest, most involved chapter, so future updates shouldn't take nearly so long to post.

Anyhow. In case you can't remember what happened and don't want to go back through chapters. When we last left our protagonists: Sam freaked out and left Freddie in the courtyard. Sam and Carly had a heart to heart. Carly and Freddie had a heart to heart. And Freddie left to look for Sam. We continue… 

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><p>Freddie walked through every deserted hallway, listening for the tell-tale <em>snick<em> of an opening door and watching for a darting shadow. No sign yet but he didn't lose hope. He was determined to keep looking and knew eventually he'd find her, even if it took till dawn.

Finally, he was walking down a back hallway when he heard _bang! bang!_ noises echoing down the hall. He followed them until he realized they were coming from the gym. Freddie cautiously approached to peer into the small square of glass and saw Sam highlighted by the light filtering in from the streetlamps outside. She was, inexplicably, throwing a basketball violently at the hoop.

Freddie watched her for a minute. He hadn't been entirely forthcoming with Carly. He finally let himself think it: Sam wasn't pretty; she was beautiful. Freddie knew this, but even considering it seemed a little ridiculous and a lot dangerous. He pressed his hands gently on the cool wooden door separating them. All her movements had this grace, not refined, but like a prowling jaguar. And her hair…

He shook his head and took a breath before he lost his nerve. Now or never. He let it out and pressed open the door as he stepped inside. The _ch-click_ echoed loudly in the cavernous gym, startling even him. Sam caught the ball off the bounce and turned to look at him. Freddie flinched again at the sound of the door drifting closed, but kept his eyes on her face as she struggled internally not to bolt.

He wasn't entirely sure what she'd do, but after an intense moment of eye contact, she turned back to the basket and resumed chucking the ball at it.

Freddie released the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. His relief was short-lived once he began walking toward her. Suddenly, he understood her desire to run, because his heart was racing. He stopped about five feet away from her, so he was visible in her periphery. Freddie knew instinctively to keep some distance between them. He also knew this was about to be one of the most significant conversations of his life. His relationships with the people he valued most were riding on this, and he had no idea how to begin.

He settled on, "Hey."

_Bang_. "Hey." She wasn't looking at him, but at least she was talking. Kind of. Freddie's eyes chose to follow the progress of the ball and each bounce as it returned to Sam.

"I didn't know you played basketball."

_Bang_. "I don't."

"Ah." He watched her launch the ball once more. "Trying to knock down the backboard?"

_Bang_. "Yup."

The silence stretched on between them as Sam grew more and more tense. When Freddie tried again, "So—," Sam's arm slipped and her next throw ricocheted off the board and toward Freddie. He caught it out of a protective instinct, which left Sam and him staring at each other, sans distractions.

She shifted uneasily, and Freddie tried to swallow with his suddenly dry throat. "I guess we should probably talk."

Sam nodded jerkily. "Yeah, we should."

Freddie took a quick breath. "Right. So, you want to…" he motioned toward the bleachers.

"Yeah, sure." Sam and he walked over to the seats, keeping the set distance between them like an invisible barrier. They sat down uncomfortably on the chilled metal and Freddie wondered how long they could put off talking about what they didn't want to talk about.

"Sorry I shoved you before," Sam said suddenly. Freddie's eyes darted toward her. "Back in the hall." She was not-quite making eye contact, at least turned in his direction.

"It's okay." He shifted. "Sorry I yelled at you. I was just…"

"It's fine."

They settled back into silence and for a moment, Freddie toyed with the idea that maybe they could leave it at that. Ignore and pretend to forget everything else. He could tell Sam was debating the same thing, both of them wanting to escape this painfully awkward moment. But he also knew that letting this go would leave a scar on all of them.

Sam flung out her hands and groaned. "Look, I don't do this a lot, but I'm not going to run away. Really. So could you just _say_ something?" she bit out with her usual gusto.

It made Freddie bristle even as it comforted him. "Wait, why don't _you_ say something?" he shot back. "You started all this!"

"Exactly, and now it's your turn. What else do you want me to say? I said my piece out in the courtyard."

He turned to her, having finally reached his breaking point. "No, Sam! That's just it, you didn't _say_ anything. You just _act_ and expect the rest of us to put the pieces together!"

"I kissed you," she snarled almost resentfully. "Isn't that clear enough?"

"How would I know? We kissed before and it wasn't supposed to mean anything," Freddie reminded her angrily. "Normally that means you like someone. Is that what this means?"

"What do you _want_, skywriters, a legal contract?"

"How about just admitting it?" Freddie said coldly. "Out loud. To me. Because honestly, Sam, I'm grasping at straws here. I can't say or do anything because I literally have no idea where you are with this." He swallowed something that felt like desperation. "I need to hear you say it, to know if it's true. No avoidance, no quips, just…words." Sam's eyes were hidden from the light, but he could tell she was staring at him, shadows emphasizing the misery etched into her features. Freddie grasped whatever was left of his nerves. "Sam, do you _like_ me?"

She let the moment hang between them, but her eyes never left his face. Then finally…

"Yes," she said, sounding stricken and almost angry. "Yes, I like you. Satisfied?" she asked bitterly. Only then did she break eye contact by shoving herself off her seat and walking back onto the court.

Freddie knew he needed to follow her, but shock momentarily cemented his feet to the floor. But in the space of a breath, he jolted up as though electrically shocked, never having felt this motivated. "Why?" He asked, jogging after her. She had only made it a few strides, her arms crossed over her torso defensively.

"Just let it go, Benson." He caught up with her and grasped her shoulders, turning her towards him.

"Come on, Sam" he said beseechingly. "You owe me this. I'm just trying to understand. Why?"

Sam tried to move away, but it was like she lacked the energy to do so. Freddie held on steadily. She sighed, refusing to look at him and began as though it was a tiresome chore rather and not an emotional confession.

"I mean, it's just…us, when we're together." Freddie just stared back at her, and Sam rolled her eyes, trying to clarify. "It's like, when we're hanging out, or whatever, we're…playing a game that other people just wouldn't get." She misunderstood his look of confusion for incredulity. "I know, I know, that 'game' was me hating you. And trust me, I did hate you when we first started hanging out. But," she stopped, looking up to the metal ceiling beams as if to distance herself from what she was saying. "One day I just…_didn't _anymore. Hate you. You were okay."

Freddie spoke up hesitantly, not wanting to set her off. "Yeah. I mean. I thought that's the relationship we had. You seemed…okay with it."

Sam nodded, exasperated, like _I know, right?_ "But once you and I were hanging out more…you weren't such a killjoy. No offense," she added off-handedly. She was lost in her thoughts and thus missed the bemused grin that snuck up on Freddie. "You could be funny, sometimes, and a little bit evil." Was he imagining the hint of admiration in her voice? He jerked out of his thoughts to listen. "And _no one_ was more surprised than me when I found myself actually _listening_ to your 't get me wrong, that's still as bland as the cafeteria's casserole, but at some point, I started wanting to hear what you had to say. OrI'd have news, and after calling Carly, I'd want to call you too." She seemed surprised all over again at the revelation.

Freddie cleared his throat awkwardly, glancing around as if maybe the gym scenery had changed in the past five minutes. "Right. Well, I'm glad you…want to tell me stuff." He stuttered but continued "B-but that doesn't explain, you know, like, why…" he trailed off, not wanting to press his luck but wanting (no, _needing_) her to continue.

Sam looked suddenly exhausted and she pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. "Look, nub, it's not something I can totally _explain_, okay?" She looked at him to see if he understood and saw he didn't. "It's just…it's me and you, you know?" Sam spoke softly, meeting his gaze for only a moment. Her gaze dropped to the floor and her voice became monotone. "I like that no one else can get under your skin like I can," she said**. **"I like that you're always honest with me, even though you know I'll beat you up for it. You're so _good_ to other people that sometimes I want to beat you up for that too. It's because we always have fun, even when we're fighting and because all of a sudden, days we hung out were better than days we didn't. And," here, finally, her voice cracked a bit, "because even though you don't like me, I know you'll always be there for me if I need you."

Freddie was beyond stunned. He was absolutely shell-shocked. It was as if all his senses had deserted him in a chasm, and he was left trying to scramble back to reality. The silence engulfed them as Sam stayed motionless while Freddie seemed to have trouble breathing and standing at the same time. The headlights of a passing car played with the shadows in the gym, and Freddie caught a quick glimpse of Sam's illuminated face. He didn't even see her blink.

His brain was overwhelmed playing snippets of what Sam had said again and again, trying to formulate a response to something. Anything. Unfortunately, the only thing his mind latched onto was "What makes you think I don't like you?"

She didn't look at him but did roll her eyes. "Um, the obvious reasons?"

Freddie fumbled with his response. "Well, yeah, but Sam, I mean, that's just _you_. Who you are."

For the first time in days, she shot him a look full of contempt, and it was so _normal_ that he wanted to laugh, albeit a bit hysterically. "Freddie," she began, scorn lacing each word, "you disliking me is just good sense. I make your life hell on a daily basis! Some days it was my only goal. I appreciate you trying to be _nice_," she spat the word. "But I am _perfectly_ aware of why you wouldn't like me." She made her way back to the bleachers and sat down almost defiantly. Sam had obviously had enough and was hoping he'd take the easy out and leave.

Freddie hesitated, watching her shift angrily on the bench when she saw he wasn't leaving as quickly as she had anticipated. It was obvious to anyone who knew Sam (and he did know her, he realized, though he had been questioning that the entire evening) that she was upset. More than he'd ever seen her. He was surprised how upset it made him to watch. Without conscious thought, he followed her path and sat down next to her, not too close.

Wanting to help, he stopped considering what he was saying, and just began to say what he knew. He stared straight ahead, speaking softly. "You do make my life hell, Sam. You can be mean, and violent, and you have very loose definitions of right and wrong. But do you really think me or Carly would hang out with you if there wasn't more to you than that?" Sam shrugged noncommittally.

Freddie huffed a laugh disbelievingly. "How do you not see it? You're…hilarious, and tough, and honestly, one of the coolest girls I know." Sam started in surprise but managed to keep from looking at him. "Really. Even when you were pranking me, God have mercy, but I admired the sheer _deviousness _of your schemes." He thought he saw Sam's lips twitch, though she was trying desperately to control them."Sam," he took a chance and touched her shoulder, asking her to look at him. She complied, steeling her face to appear unaffected by his words.

Freddie held her gaze and continued steadily. "You don't take crap from anyone. _Anyone_. And yeah, you fight, but you'll fight for us, me and Carly, no matter the consequences. We always know you've got our backs." Freddie didn't even realize what he was saying except that it was the truth, didn't realize he couldn't stop talking, words spilling out of him. A revelation was dawning in the back of his mind. "And you've had a good impact too. Since we've become friends, I feel braver. Like I don't have to wait for the world to give me a place. You've taught me how to look out for myself and break the rules. And—" Freddie stopped.

There it was. There was the crux of everything he was trying to say, right in front of him, clear as day. A small, incredulous smile grew on his face. "And," he said again, pausing a moment to fully appreciate his epiphany before he finished. "I have more fun fighting with you than I do hanging out with anyone else."

He turned to look at her head-on. Sam was stock still. She didn't appear to be breathing. Freddie waited, knowing she had heard, knowing she needed a minute. Finally, she quietly asked, "…Really?".

"Really," Freddie answered firmly, small grin still on his face.

"Oh." Sam swallowed but still spoke hesitantly. "So that means…"

"It means," Freddie prepared to steel himself for courage, but found he didn't need to. This part was easy, as easy as breathing, "I think I like you too."

"Oh," she said again. Sam's fingers flexed and her shoulders relaxed as she fought back a smile. Freddie understood, suddenly feeling restless. They still weren't making eye contact, but the tension that had been pushing them apart like identical magnetic charges was dissipating rapidly. It was replaced by a different, bubbling energy, causing them to fidget. "So," she asked, trying to seem nonchalant. "…what now?" Her fingers tapped out an indistinguishable rhythm on the bench.

"Well, that's probably what we should talk about," Freddie tried to quip. Sam's arm flung out to smack him. It hurt, but not as much as usual. "I don't know," he said, rubbing his ribs where Sam had hit him. "I mean, do you want to, you know, _date_?" It was still awkward to mention, risky to say out loud. "Like, be boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Sam sucked air through her teeth, considering the previously radical notion. Then, "If we did…" she seemed to have trouble continuing.

"Date," Freddie prompted.

"Yeah, that," Sam spoke cautiously. "How would that work? What would happen?"

"Um," he too began to drum his fingers against the bench before catching himself. "I guess a lot of that would be up to us to figure out. What we want. But I suppose some things would have to change because…you know…"

Sam nodded. "We'd probably hang out more."

"Probably."

"And I suppose we'd go out alone, sometimes, to places that couples would go."

"True."

She bit her lip. "And, you could call me, or I could…whatever, if we wanted to talk. Just because. It wouldn't be weird since we'd be…"

Freddie looked over at her to find her concentrating on the ground. "Yes," he said firmly. "I think that would be pretty important. Being able to call each other, just because."

Sam relaxed. "Right. What else?"

Freddie thought about it. "Well, we'd probably try to sit next to each other, if we were meeting in public. Maybe save each other a seat, occasionally."

She nodded, considering. "I could do that, I guess."

"And," Freddie said, overly casual, but his nerves sparked and he couldn't look at her as he continued. "Sometimes, I might want to hold your hand. Maybe stand next to you, or put my arm around your shoulder. You know…boyfriend stuff."

Sam flushed but only slightly. "That-that wouldn't be all the time though, right? Us hanging on each other?"

"Definitely not," Freddie stated adamantly. "Just, sometimes."

"Right." Then, "And I could hold your hand too, or whatever, if I wanted," Sam added surprisingly. She saw Freddie's eyes widen, and she scoffed defensively, "I'm not saying I _would_, you know, just that if you can I can."

"Yeah," Freddie coughed, hearing his voice go higher than normal. "I mean, totally, you can do that if you wanted to…do that."

Sam rolled her eyes before she got serious again. She turned to face Freddie, staring him straight in the eye. "I'm not going to giggle, or bat my eyes at you, or wait for you to do stuff for me."

Freddie shot her a look. "Duh," he said.

Sam smiled a bit at that. "I don't want to use pet names," she stated next. "None of this 'honey', or 'sweetie', and sure as hell no 'Sammy' chiz."

"Agreed," Freddie said before proposing his own terms. "You can't use stuff that we talk about, that's just between us, against me in public."

Sam considered. "That's fair," she said with a nod. "I don't want flowers, or any of that wimpy, fluffy stuff, alright? Chocolate's okay," she added as an afterthought.

"Got it," Freddie said. He leaned toward her. "_And_," he stated emphatically, "you don't just get to injure me on a whim anymore."

"What?" Sam was dismayed and Freddie glared at her. "How about only when you really deserve it?" she suggested, shifting to match his stance.

"Nothing that requires me to see a doctor. Or leaves giant bruises," he countered.

She stared at him hard for a moment. "Deal." She said finally. Freddie grinned.

"Okay then," but he was interrupted by Sam clearing her throat.

"_And_," she began, and Freddie braced himself. "We can't get all weird around each other. We would still have to be friends, whatever…_else_ is going on" she said. From the look in her eyes, Freddie could see that this was a deal breaker.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said firmly, and Sam finally let a genuine grin slip through. They stayed staring at each other until they both laughed in relief and a giddy happiness.

When their giggling energy subsided, Freddie asked, "So, what, are we…_together_, now?" complete with air quotes.

"Well, I don't know," Sam said offhandedly as she stood up and stretched. "It's not like anyone has _asked_ anyone yet," she taunted and began walking slowly toward the door.

"Oh my God, Sam," Freddie exclaimed following her. He was both amused and exasperated. "Are you serio—"

"Hey, Freddie?" Sam cut off his rant as she turned to face him. She locked eyes with him, calm but sincere. "Do you want to go out with me?"

There was a beat of silence. Then Freddie smiled at this awesome, infuriating girl and resigned himself to never being able to completely figure her out. He took a breath—

And the door to the gym burst open.

"Hey! You two! You can't be in here! Students participating in the Lock-In are restricted to the main hallways and designated classrooms. And…is that—" Ms. Briggs' face turned to horror. "Is that _Sam Puckett_?"

Freddie and Sam scrambled to their feet as she strode toward them. "What chaos are _you_ concocting in here?" Ms. Briggs demanded.

"Relax, you old bat, I'm not doing anything," Sam shot back.

"Please," Ms. Briggs scoffed as she laid a hand on each of their shoulders and began to steer them out of the gym. "You're always in the midst of something, just because I caught you _beforehand_ doesn't mean you're not in trouble, you can't trust children, that's—"

Sam and Freddie let her ramble on as she led them back down the hallway. They didn't really hear her over the rapid beating of their hearts. At one point, Ms. Briggs paused to figure out what to do with them, and Freddie stared at Sam, trying to get her attention. Finally, she looked over at him.

He smiled at her. "Yes," he mouthed silently. Sam gave an answering grin, as though she couldn't help it. The moment was ruined as Ms. Briggs jostled them back to movement, muttering under her breath. 

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><p>Thanks for sticking with me! If you have a moment, I'd love to hear what you thought!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **So...hi? Yeah, I'm gonna keep this short and sweet because I really have no excuse as to why this story has taken so long to get updated. Well, no good excuse. I could explain that during the interim between this chapter and the last, the _Merlin_ Big Bang forum started to post its fics, and I got distracted by the beautiful stories of beautiful boys (some of the stuff is seriously Adult Content, so don't go there if you're not old enough!). Most of you are probably fangirls/fanboys and understand fic distractions, but still, NO EXCUSE. Here is the next chapter. After this, there is one more epilogue-y type chapter which is basically all fluff. It's all edited, but I refuse to tell you when I think it will be up, because that's when I delay. Thank you for sticking with this story, and have a wonderful week!

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><p>Ms. Briggs unceremoniously shoved Sam into Carly and Gibby's classroom. She snarled to Carly, "Watch her, Shay!" Ms. Briggs kept her nails firmly buried in Freddie's arm as she dragged him back to his own project, despite Sam's vehement protests that it was <em>her<em> project too. She launched back into a lecture for Freddie, something about wasting his potential, and continued marching down the corridor.

After Ms. Briggs' haranguing finally faded down the hall, the noise of the room dwindled to the low hum of students discussing final printing schedules, the snores of those who had succumbed to exhaustion, and the giggles of the students who had cracked under the pressure. Sam turned towards the sensory box and nodded to Gibby. He responded with a nod and a "'sup?" before he adjusted a dial on the wall of the box.

Carly looked up briefly from where she was sitting then, catching Sam's eye, she quickly dropped her gaze to her notebook, full of observations that were now gibberish to her. Warily, Sam made her way over to her friend and sat down silently beside her. Carly gave up any pretense of working, but they each avoided the other's gaze; Carly apparently studying the inspirational posters on the wall, and Sam focused on the sensory box as Spencer twitched on the floor.

Sam cleared her throat. "You using the explosion soundtrack?" she asked, indicating Spencer.

Carly glanced over and shook her head. "Extreme strobe light," she replied.

"Cool." Sam fidgeted for a bit until she caught Carly's eye. She took a deep breath. "Carly," she said, "I am so, so sorry I didn't tell you about Freddie. About all of it."

Carly let the apology hang there for a few seconds before she turned to fully face Sam. She gave a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I know, Sam. It's just, it _hurts_ that you had this secret and didn't tell me. But you know what hurts more? That there was this huge change in your life that you didn't want me to be a part of."

Sam looked distressed. "That wasn't it!" She glanced hurriedly around, making sure no one else had heard her outburst. She continued in a lower tone, "Or, okay no, it was, I didn't want you to know. But not because I was _happy_ to keep you out of it. It nearly killed me, not telling you. I only did it because I thought telling you would be so much worse."

"Why would you think that?" Carly asked quietly, genuinely confused.

Sam looked down, fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt. "I wasn't lying when I said I kept hoping the crush would go away. But when I realized it wasn't, I panicked. As much as I wanted to tell you how stupid I felt, how scared I was that Freddie would hate me, I was even more scared that _you_ would hate me. That I'd wreck things, and you'd be mad at me for ruining everything and our friendship would be over—"

"Okay, okay!" Carly stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I get it. And I can see why that would be scary. But do you know what about that makes me even more frustrated?" Carly asked.

"What?" Sam asked, eyes still trained on the floor.

"Sam, you are my best friend. How could you think I'd end our friendship over something you couldn't control? Don't you trust me?"

Sam's head shot up, horrified. "Of course I trust you. I just didn't—this all hit me out of the blue, and I thought I was going to lose you _and_ Freddie, and I was so embarrassed and didn't know why this had to happen to me, so I just…panicked," she finished miserably.

Carly gave her a second before sighing and putting an arm around her. "I know. I know you did. That's what you always do with emotions. Other than anger." Sam sniffed but turned it into a cough. "But Sam, you need to listen to me, because I am only going to say this once." Sam looked up at Carly's insistence.

"You are my best friend," Carly stated severely. "You are stuck with me for life. That means when you have a problem, you don't get to call it quits. We work through it. You don't get to be embarrassed around me, because we're _supposed _to be open with each other about stuff that's important to us. Sharing our lives is part of the deal. I'm not leaving you, you're not leaving me, so you do _not_ get to use that as an excuse to keep things from me."

Sam was a bit shocked, but she nodded. Then, on impulse, she grabbed Carly in a bone-breaking hug. When Carly squeaked, Sam let her go, glaring at the kids who were staring at her brief display of emotion. Swallowing hard, she looked at Carly, exhausted. "How do I deserve a friend like you?"

"And stop thinking you're not good enough to have good people in your life!" Carly commanded exasperatedly, smacking her arm lightly. "You'd go to jail for us, we're lucky to have you."

Sam smiled and cleared her throat. "Yeah, well, jail's no big deal. Been there, done that." Carly gave her a small smile and nudged her with her shoulder. Sam fidgeted. "So, you'd be okay with it, if Freddie and I, you know…dated?"

Carly thought for a moment. "It—it would take some getting used to," she admitted. "I think I might get a little jealous. Of both of you," she added hastily. "I'm so used to being the link between you two; I think I might feel left out, like you don't need me since you've got each other."

Sam looked at her, shocked. "Are you kidding? You really think Freddie could handle dating me without you in his life? And I will_ never_ not need you."

Carly grinned. "True. I guess I could get used to it. I like the idea that you guys would stick together even if I wasn't there to mediate. I just…don't want to be left behind by my two best friends."

"Carly," Sam said seriously. "We would never leave you behind. You're the best part of us."

Carly smiled. "Thanks," she said, growing lost in thought. After a moment, "Then yes. I'd be okay with you and Freddie dating."

Sam looked at her intensely. "Okay," she said, pulling her chair closer to face Carly. She took a deep breath. "Carly?"

"Yeah?"

"Guess what happened to me tonight."

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><p>The custodians showed up at seven to let everyone out of the school. Freddie had joined Sam and Carly in their classroom only a few minutes ago, informing them that he and Brad had finished the project.<p>

"Thank God," Sam declared in between bites of muffin that the cafeteria had provided for breakfast.

"Did we still want to finish rehearsing this week's iCarly this morning?" Freddie asked leaning against a wall and sliding down to the floor. He couldn't quite stop the yawn at the tail end of his sentence.

"Yeah," Carly said, tiredly pushing her hair out of her eyes. "But let's make it a little later. Spencer has to stay with the nurse for a bit. He's dehydrated." Spencer gave a low groan from the floor where he had collapsed after Gibby had opened the sensory box. "Why don't you two head over to my place, and I'll meet you when I can? Spencer's key is in his bag."

"Psh," Sam scoffed. "Like I need a key." She moved to help Carly get Spencer to his feet.

Freddie sighed and got to his feet once more. "Yeah, Sam and I can do that." Then, he seemed to backtrack, and began stuttering looking to Sam for guidance. "So, Carly, maybe we should say that, well, Sam and I, we, um—"

"Relax, Benson, I already told her everything," Sam said, shifting Spencer's weight back onto Carly. "And I promised her, no more secrets. Again," she amended.

"Oh." Freddie seemed at a loss. "So…we're good then?"

"The best." Sam smirked.

Carly looked down at her and Spencer's feet as she tried to slowly guide him out the door. She knew that Sam had meant every word she'd said. But Carly also knew that what Sam had said could not be entirely true. There would be secrets now. Just little secrets, but secrets nonetheless. Little things Freddie would think or whisper to Sam, little gestures and smiles from Sam that Carly could never interpret. She had a moment of sadness before looking back at her friends.

Sam was hastily grabbing things to leave. But this time she grabbed Freddie's stuff as well and gave it to him. Well, threw it at his head, but after shouting at her, Freddie had a grin on his face. The tension in Carly's heart eased. She had always thought nobody would _really_ be good enough for her friends, but now she knew: her other friend would be good enough. Maybe she didn't need to know every secret. _Actually_, she thought to herself, _I probably won't _want_ to know everything. _And someday, she'd have her own secrets with someone else, and her friends would be just as glad she was happy as she was now for them.

Carly eased open the classroom door, propping Spencer up against the doorjamb to turn the handle. He groaned when she yanked him back and pulled him into the hallway. "Okay, I'll see you back at my place!" Carly called back into the room. Then, she added cheekily, "Don't make out on my bed!" as she and Spencer made their way down the hallway.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Sam yelled in response before the door could close. Freddie just rolled his eyes, but his face was pink.

"So," he said once his cheeks had cooled. "Ready to go?"

"Yup." Sam slung her pack over her shoulder and stopped. All of a sudden, their solitude crept over them, and the silence of the now empty school pressed down on them. It felt awkward and they were unsure how to proceed.

As though it had a mind of its own, Freddie's right arm suddenly extended into the space between him and Sam. Sam stared at it for a moment before, as if in a trance, her left arm closed the remaining distance and her fingers intertwined with his.

_She has small hands_, Freddie thought suddenly. _I never thought of Sam having small hands_. He looked up to find her staring at their joined hands, smiling softly. She caught his eye and held it for a moment before the smile became devious. Without a second thought, his arm was yanked powerfully as Sam pulled him behind her.

"Come _on_, Benson, I'm not staying in this place one second longer than I have to."

"Did you really need to dislocate my shoulder? You could have just _asked_," Freddie complained, but his heart wasn't in just laughed and continued to drag him along. He noticed that no matter how hard she pulled, she kept her fingers laced with his.

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><p>Just the epilogue to go! Again, thanks for sticking with me!<p> 


	6. Epilogue

**FINAL AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Well, everyone, it's been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but we have reached the end of my little story. Thank you so much, all of you who stuck with this through the delays. I'll just go back to waiting for Dan Schneider to screw up the beautiful Seddie arc he's given us so far. We all know it's coming. Everyone take care!

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><p>An hour later, they were sitting next to each other on Carly's couch, watching crap television. They were both listless, the previous night of no sleep catching up to them. Freddie looked over at Sam, his exhaustion not quite potent enough to dim his giddiness. <em>He was dating Sam Puckett<em>. He felt an odd mix of excitement and terror in his veins as he thought it. Freddie watched her blonde curls sway softly as Sam shifted on the couch. He had always thought her hair was beautiful, and now…

He took a breath to gain courage at the thought. As casually as he knew how, Freddie reached over to Sam and placed his hand on the curls at the nape of her neck. Sam froze for a moment and Freddie held his hand still, waiting for her consent.

After a second, Sam relaxed into the unexpected, but not unwelcome, touch. Freddie softly dug his fingers deeper into her hair, gently massaging the back of her neck. He reveled in the feeling of the golden strands slipping through his fingers, but was distracted when Sam gave a low murmur of approval.

Encouraged, Freddie concentrated on keeping his hand gentle but firm, the result being Sam leaning into him more and more until her side was pressed against his and her head was on his shoulder.

"I'm going to go to sleep if you keep that up," Sam murmured.

"No problem," Freddie said with a smile, starting to shift gently aside. "You're tired. You can have the couch." He moved as though to get up, when Sam stopped him with an "Ow!".

"Wait, what—?"

"You pulled my hair, Fredweird!"

"Sorry!" He tried to extricate his hand to no avail. Blushing, he explained, "I think my watch got stuck in your hair. Here, let me—," he tried bringing his other hand up to untangle his wrist, but without that arm supporting him, and with Sam's weight pressing against him, he ended up leaning back against the armrest of the couch, Sam draped across his chest. Unable to meet her eyes, he worked his suddenly clumsy fingers until he could free his arm.

"There," he said finally, feeling unbearably stupid. "Got it. I can move if you…"

"I don't know," she said, wriggling into a more comfortable position, which Freddie enjoyed far more than he'd ever be willing to admit. "This is kind of comfortable. I guess."

"O-okay," Freddie stumbled. After a minute of indecision, he finally bit the bullet and allowed his arms to settle around Sam's waist as she turned her head over his heart. "This okay?" he asked, desperately trying to keep his voice steady.

Sam turned her head to look up at him thoughtfully. Then, moving slowly, she shifted upwards and eased her lips over his. He remembered this, how her lips were surprisingly soft and playful. He kissed her back for a moment before she broke it, staring at him, before she settled back on his chest.

Freddie pressed his lips together; he could still taste her there. "You know," he said, "every time we've kissed, it's been you ambushing me. Is this going to be a habit?"

Sam said nothing and shifted only slightly. After a few minutes of waiting, Freddie felt drowsiness overtake him. "I mean, it's okay if you do. I don't really mind," he mumbled.

Sam was already asleep.

* * *

><p>Freddie woke about an hour later, unsure as to why. He looked down in confusion at the blonde head on his chest as the memories from the previous night resurfaced. He smiled and stroked her hair, and that movement made him realize what had woken him.<p>

Sam's leg was pressing on his, which was quickly falling asleep. "Sam," he whispered, but she didn't move.

"Sam," he whispered louder, putting his hands on her shoulders. His leg was going numb. "My leg's asleep, could you move?"

At his pushing, Sam grunted but only pulled him closer. He would have been thrilled, but the sensations in his leg were waxing towards acute pain. He couldn't help but appreciate Sam's possessive calm as she slept.

This was how Carly found them a few minutes later, Freddie having given up trying to rouse Sam while trying to ignore the discomfort in his leg to go back to sleep.

Carly unlocked the door, and stepped inside. She stopped for a moment, and then cooed with a wide smile. "Awwww. You guys are so _cute_!" Her whisper was high, but contained.

"Thanks," Freddie whispered sarcastically. "Did you just get in? How's Spencer?"

"Yeah, and he's fine. He's heading up now." Carly watched as Freddie winced. "What's wrong?"

Freddie gritted his teeth. "My leg's asleep and I can't wake Sam without shoving her, which I _really_ think is a bad idea. Plus," he said sheepishly, looking down at Sam, "I don't really want to wake her anyway."

Carly smirked. "Awwww."

"Shut up," he said churlishly.

"But what about rehearsal?" she taunted.

"Fine, _you_ wake her up then," Freddie countered.

Carly sighed. "Fine, I guess I'll _try_." She walked over to the couch and said, even softer than a whisper, "Hey, Sam, ready to rehearse for iCarly?"

Suddenly, Sam vaulted off the couch with a huge smile. "Absolutely, Carly, let's get started," she said brightly.

Freddie was dumbfounded. "Wait, how did—AH!" Freddie yelped as the feeling began to return to his leg. Carly just laughed. "How long—gah—how long have you been awake?"

Sam pretended to think. "Pretty much since you told me your leg was asleep?"

"WHAT?" Freddie tried to sit up and flinched as his foot hit the floor and the reverberations travelled up his leg. He tried rubbing it to easy the needling sensation, but all he could do was wait it out.

Sam walked behind the couch and ruffled his hair gently. "Don't stall too long," she warned, "rehearsal starts in five. Coming, Carly?" she shouted as she leapt up the stairs.

Carly looked at Freddie with good-natured sympathy. "I'll try to keep her away from the computer," she consoled. "Just try to hurry." And she followed Sam up the stairs.

Freddie gritted his teeth against the sensations and tried to stand. His leg shook and he sat down hard, rubbing it furiously. He looked up when the door opened and Spencer finally walked in sporting a fuchsia bandage on his wrist.

"Hey," Spencer said, apparently nonplussed to see Freddie squirming in pain on his couch.

"Hey," Freddie tried to respond neutrally. "What happened to your wrist?"

Spencer looked at the bandage as though he had forgotten it was there. "Long story," he said solemnly. "What's wrong with your leg?"

"Long story," Freddie said, exasperated, still trying to massage the pain away.

"That's cool." Spencer made his way into the kitchen. "I hear you're dating Sam now."

Freddie glanced over at him. "Yeah," he said ruefully.

Spencer nodded. "I think you'll be good for each other."

Freddie nodded; he hoped so. He thought the pain in his leg had begun to recede and he gingerly stood up, using the back of the couch for balance. Spencer continued looking at him. "Hey, Freddie?"

"Yeah?" He stopped and turned around as best he could.

"Sam is Carly's best friend," Spencer said, unusually serious. "She's kind of my little sister too. Just…be good to her, okay?"

Freddie met his eyes. "Promise," he swore

Spencer grinned. "Good." And he resumed trying to use their can-opener with one hand. Freddie hobbled along the furniture and made for the stairs. "Hurry up, Freddie!" he heard Carly shout, followed by Sam's maniacal laughter.

Freddie took a deep breath in preparation and looked pleadingly into the kitchen. "I'm never going to keep up with them, am I?" he asked Spencer morosely.

Spencer shook his head seriously. "Nor should you try," he said in a haunted tone.

Freddie sighed and limped up the stairs, hearing the two most important people in his life start their rehearsal.

"_Hello! I'm still Carly!"_

"_And I'm still Sam!"_

"_And this is still iCarly!"_

"_Wait, are you sure?"_

"_No. Where the heck are we? Who are you people?"_

"_Give me my camera!...Okay, AND, from the top, in 5, 4, 3, 2…"_.

* * *

><p>THE END. <p>

**Thanks for reading everyone!**


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